A Message From A Friend
by StellaHunterOfArtemis
Summary: Camp Half-Blood's reaction on getting the note Annabeth sent from Tartarus and it's aftermath.


**I know you guys want to kill me for not updating my other stories, but I am literally dying because of my study workload. Thank the lord, last week school finally got over, so I have time to write and update stories. Unfortunately, now that I sat here, I realised that I had major writer's block in all stories. I also noticed that most were horribly written. Therefore, I am going to rewrite High School with a Twist for one, so wait for an alert. Thank you all for sticking with me for so long! I love you guys!**

The mood at Camp Half-Blood was somber, though most people tried to contain it. All everyone ever thought about was Percy, Annabeth, Jason, Piper and Leo, who were on a quest to save the world. Obviously, now there were very pressing matters currently, like the impending attack on their Camp by the Romans.

The sun was setting, meaning it was dinner time. All people in the Camp left their preparations to enjoy their meals with their family. Most campers couldn't help but look toward the empty spaces at the head of the Athena, Aphrodite and Hephaestus tables. More glances were thrown at the deserted Poseidon table, but very few could look at the Zeus table.

Even though the campers knew that it wasn't his choice, they didn't really like Jason, if only for the reason that Percy was taken to the Roman Camp when Jason came. He wasn't disliked, but not particularly liked, either. The newer campers hung out with Jason more than the ones who knew Percy.

All the food was served and people got up and walked to the sacrificial fires. Everyone put a small piece of their meal into the fire (or in Connor Stoll's case, a packet of peanut M&M's).

For some reason, Rachel Elizabeth Dare, the Camp's Oracle, looked at the smoke curling into the air after the Hermes Cabin was done sacrificing. It was no different than the usual smoke, but Rachel was still drawn. She found herself thinking "_Hermes_" as she wrapped a slice of pizza in a paper napkin and set it to flames.

Rachel couldn't justify her actions to herself, but she just knew it was the right thing to do.

Halfway through the meal, Rachel's actions were justified.

Travis Stoll pushed his brother, Connor, hard, which resulted in him falling down. He jumped up, about to playfully smack Travis, when the sacrificial fire burned hotter, brighter. It roared, leapt up as though wanting to burn the sky. Then a single piece of paper flew from the very top of the flames and floated toward the ground.

There was a beat of silence, in which every single occupant of Camp (no one missed dinner) stared at the paper. It was slightly yellow in color and looked to be greasy. It was folded up, though it was coming undone.

Connor snapped out of it first, and jumped toward the paper when it was two feet off the ground. He stared at the familiar writing, which he often saw on piles of notes, notebooks, textbooks and blueprints he stole from the Athena cabin. He was surprised seeing Annabeth's writing, of course, but what he was more surprised was the top of the napkin had his name written on it. The written part glinted Celestial Bronze.

_Connor,_

_Give this to Rachel. Not a prank. Don't be a moron._

_Love,_

_Annabeth_

'Um, Rachel?' Connor said, staring at the front of the note. He wondered if Annabeth had psychic skills. How did she know that he'd be the one to pluck the note out of the air? 'This note is from Annabeth. She says to give this to you.'

Rachel looked startled. Of course, she didn't expect she'd be the recipient of the note that was flashed from their sacrificial flame.

'It is?'

'Yes, it is,' Connor said, unable to believe it himself.

'Yay, Annabeth sent a note!' Tyson cried happily, while Ella hovered at his shoulder, 'Good, good. Annabeth figured out how to use the burnings in an opposite direction.'

Rachel took the paper, realising it was not a paper at all, but a paper napkin. With a start, she realised it was the same paper napkin she herself had burned, with that pepperoni pizza.

'Read it, child,' Chiron urged.

Rachel had unfolded the paper until now, and her eyes whizzed about, reading every word as fast as she could. Her eyes widened further and further, before she turned very pale and sat down hard on the chair behind her.

'What is it, my dear?' Chiron asked insistently, but Rachel held up a hand, reading it until the very last word before putting the napkin down. She looked close to tears, but she had a fiery light shining in her eyes that suggested she was extremely determined.

'What was in the note, Rachel?' Grover questioned.

Rachel took a deep breath, let it out, and took a sip of her root beer before answering.

_Dear Rachel,_

_If my calculations are correct, this note should have found you during dinner. How this note got to you is a very long story, one which I would like to tell you in person. Anyway, I need you to do a small task. When we were in Rome, I went on a quest. I had to deal with Arachne in order to finish this quest, which Athena assigned to me. I had to fetch the Athena Parthenos. In saving it and destroying Arachne, Percy and I fell into Tartarus._

At this, the entire Camp broke into chaos. All the children of Athena gasped.

'What did you just say, Rachel?' Malcolm asked in barely contained rage.

'Percy and Annabeth are in Tartarus,' Rachel said, trying to remain strong.

When she said this, people got wilder. Tyson burst into tears. Grover bleated and buried his face in his hands. It took half an hour to contain everyone enough so that Rachel could continue reading. Even then, many Athena campers were crying, and most others fuming.

_Anyway, that is a different story altogether, one which I don't want to get into currently. I need you to go to the head of the Romans (Praetor Reyna, whose surname is unknown) and tell her to journey to the Ancient Lands and bring the Athena Parthenos home, at the top of Half-Blood Hill. Only then will the feud between the Romans and Greeks be ceased. They would be camping somewhere in the vicinity, I would say. Best of Luck._

_Love,_

_Annabeth._

When Rachel looked up, most of the Camp was in shock. The only thing anyone could do was gape.

'Percy and Annabeth are in Tartarus?' Malcolm said faintly.

Truthfully, all anyone could focus on in the whole letter was the fact that Percy and Annabeth were in Tartarus. Shocking news was heard every now and then, including the fact that Annabeth (presumably singlehandedly) had fetched the Athena Parthenos from Arachne, of all monsters, and that she was sending Rachel on a possible suicide mission. No, what everyone could focus was that their leaders were in Tartarus.

'I'm gonna do it,' Rachel declared suddenly. Everyone broke out of their stupor to stare at her rather stupidly.

'What are you going to do?' Grover asked, confused.

'I'll go to this Reyna chick, I'll do what Annabeth asked me to,' Rachel said determinedly. At this, the entire Camp burst into protests, jumping into action when their Oracle was ready to throw herself in danger.

'No, Rachel, don't!' a little girl from the Apollo table said, then promptly burst into tears.

Nyssa shook her head and said, 'That is complete suicide.'

Clarisse glared at the Oracle and said, 'Who the Hades will take your position is those Romans kill you, huh?'

Grover closed his eyes, opened them, and nodded resignedly. He was closer to the two demigods than Rachel was, and had know them longer. He knew why Rachel wanted to do it.

Tyson knew Rachel enough to know what she would want to do. She would want to save his brother, obviously. He would too.

'Child, I cannot allow —' Chiron started, but Rachel interrupted him.

'Chiron, these are Percy and Annabeth we're talking about!' she cried, brandishing the paper napkin in his face. 'How many times have they saved this Camp? The world, Olympus? _My life_?'

Rachel had tears streaming down her face. 'I owe this to them. If Annabeth wants me to do this, I will do it. No matter what you say, Chiron, I'm going.'

'I'll come with you, Rachel,' Grover sighed, looking up. When Rachel started protesting, he said in a louder voice, They're my friends too, Rachel. Plus, if you're going, you need a protector.'

Rachel sighed, shook her head, then gave in. 'Okay, Grover. You can come.'

'I want to come!' Tyson exclaimed.

'No, Tyson, don't go, ' Ella shook her head. 'If Tyson goes, bad things happen.'

'Ella's right, Tyson,' Rachel said. 'The Romans might know you, but they still associate you with Greeks. It's best if two unknown people to them go.'

Chiron could only watch with sad eyes. Why this happened to Percy and Annabeth, to these brave campers, he did not know. He could only watch as they tried to prepare for their salvation, and save their leaders.

**Hope you liked this story! Promise, I will finish HSwaT by the end of my summer holidays.**

**Yours truly,**

**Stella**


End file.
